This invention relates in general to an apparatus for dispensing flat objects, said apparatus being particularly adapted for dispensing magnetic tickets.
Present machines to automatically dispense magnetic tickets are difficult to develop, usually because of certain characteristics of the ticket. In order for the surface of the ticket to function efficiently as a magnetic recording medium, it must possess an extrememly smooth surface, be somewhat flexible (which dictates a thin ticket) and be sufficiently durable in the hands of the public user. The above facts are predominant in the design of the tickets currently in use by rapid transport systems. At least some of the tickets currently in use measure 3.375 inches by 2.125 inches in their rectangular dimensions and are approximately 0.011 inches thick. They are made from plastic, and are coated upon one surface with magnetic recording medium, while on the other side, the ticket's destination and origin location is usually printed.
The ticket is a truly laminated construction with paint or ink on the top surface, magnetic ferrous-oxide on the bottom surface and plastic in between. This laminated construction has characteristics not unlike a bi-metallic strip with unequal thermal expansion layers. The usual result is that even new tickets are not exactly flat and may have a slight convex or concave shape depending on the plastic used, the paint or ink employed and the thickness of the magnetic coating. In order to be machine vended, the tickets are usually stacked, on top of one another, in quantities of a few hundred to several thousand.
FIG. 1 represents one method of mechanically vending the magnetic ticket. This method or minor variations of the same principle are used in present ticket vendors. A moveable ejector 10 is used to engage the back side of the ticket 11 by means of the ridge 12. The ejector engages one thickness of ticket and pushes or slides a single ticket out of the stack. Since the tickets are only 0.011 inches thick, the precision of the ejector plate, slide bearings and other parts of a machine of this type must be very high. The spring 15 pressing the tickets together must be sufficiently strong to flatten the tickets against the ejector plate 10. Any wear in a machine of this type will usually result in the vending of two tickets at once or possibly no ticket at all.
Other examples of possible prior art devices are shown in the following patents:
______________________________________ Patent No. Inventor ______________________________________ 3,134,588 Zeutschel 3,546,431 Wagner 3,174,645 Barcia et al. 3,767,080 Erickson 3,774,904 Foret et al. 3,868,044 Abe et al. 4,020,972 Lundblad 4,042,147 Lee ______________________________________
These patents show a representative sampling of devices for dispensing by the use of compressed air and devices for preventing the dispensing of two tickets or other objects when only one should be dispensed.